Sewing

Temari Wrap

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Temari Wrap

Written By: Ginny Thompson

TOOLS:

PARTS:

Pins (1)
color- headed.

Scissors (1)

Sewing needle (1)

cotton darner or similar, with eye large

enough for pearl cotton.

■ •

Styrofoam ball (1)

Pearl cotton (2)
2 different colors.

Metallic thread (1)

metallic thread similar in size to pearl

cotton, or a bit finer.

Yarn(1)
4-ply.

Thread (1)

plain sewing thread, at least 300 yards.

Paper strip (1)

about 2" wide. 12" long.

SUMMARY

Temari is an ancient Japanese folk art dating back more than 500 years. Temari means
"hand" (te) "ball" (mari), relating to both making by and playing with the hands. Originally,
balls for games and children were made from bits and scraps of kimono, other clothing, or
deer hide. Strips of cloth or leather would be tightly wound into a ball and stitched together to

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Temari Wrap

hold the shape. Since an item carries not only function but beauty in Japanese culture, the
stitching became more and more intricate, leading up to the detailed embroideries seen in
both historical and present-day creations. Temari evolved from toy to objet d'art. It is carried
on today (with some modern adjustments) as a fiber art; temari are made and collected
worldwide.

Step 1 — Wrap the ball.

• Wrap the yarn around the styrofoam ball, keeping it moving at all times to make the wrap
random and even. Wrap the sewing thread over the yarn layer, covering the yarn
completely. Wrap in all directions to create a surface that does not have warp or weft,
similar to a felted surface. Run the end back under the wraps when complete. It needs to
be deep enough to take a stitch (usually about 300 yards for a 2" to 3" ball is enough).

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Temari Wrap

Step 2 — Mark the poles.

• Temari uses relational geometry to place a marking grid on the ball to use as a stitching
guide (no measuring tape!). Use a white pin, and pin the end of the paper strip anywhere.
Place the pin 1/4" from the end. This spot is now the North Pole. Wrap the strip around the
fullest circumference of the ball. Fold the strip to "fit," and trim to this length. Then fold the
strip in half and cut a notch at the fold. Re-wrap the strip around the ball, and place a black
pin in the notch, which should be directly opposite the North Pole. This is now the South
Pole.

Step 3 — Mark the obi.

• Fold the strip again, bringing South
Pole to North Pole, and cut another
notch at the halfway point. Rewrap,
and place a red pin at the empty
notch. Remove the strip again, fold
it into eighths, and place the hole
from the North Pole marker at the
red pin. Wrap the strip at the
widest horizontal point and place a
red pin at each notch, marking the
equator (called the obi).

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Temari Wrap

Step 4 — Divide the sections.

• Measure off 4 or more wraps of metallic thread and thread the needle. Enter the needle a
little bit away from the North Pole, bringing it out at the North Pole. Pull the thread through
to hide the tail in the wrap. Start at the North Pole and wrap around to the South Pole,
passing along one of the equator pins. Come back up to North Pole, pivot to the next
equator pin, and wrap around. Continue in this manner until you've divided the ball into 8
vertical sections divided by the obi. Tack at the North Pole and South Pole, and clip thread
at the surface. Tack each intersection of equator and vertical marking thread. Remove all
pins except the North and South Pole pins. Place pins halfway between obi and North Pole
and between obi and South Pole on each line, alternating colors.

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Temari Wrap

Step 5 — Embroider a square.

• Cut a working length of the first color of pearl cotton (your choice) and thread the needle.

• Enter the needle a small distance away from one colored pin (A) on the northern
hemisphere, and bring it out at the pin, pulling the tail of the thread under.

• Bring the needle down and right to equator point B, and take a small stitch around the
marking lines, going "above" the vertical marking line. Then pull the thread down and left to
pin C (the pin in the southern hemisphere opposite pin A) and insert the needle under
thread wrapping, pulling out to equator point D.

• Turn the ball so that pin C is pointing up. Take a small stitch around the equator marking
threads. Turn the ball so that you're back to the starting point, and insert the needle under
the thread wrapping. You've stitched a square, going from top to right to bottom to left.

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Step 6 — Repeat.

• Move 2 pins to the left, so that you are at the next pin of this colored pin set (skip a
marking line). Repeat the stitching sequence on this and the remaining 2 sets of lines for
this pin set. Your stitches at the obi will overlap each other to create an interwoven effect
as more rows are stitched; you should have 4 squares using 1 set of colored pins. You can
remove this set of pins, but place 1 pin in the middle of the square where you began
stitching as a placeholder. End off the thread by running under the base wrap and clipping
at the surface. Using the second color of pearl cotton, stitch the same pattern on the
alternate set of marking lines.

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Step 7 — Finish the squares.

• Return to the first color of pearl
cotton at the first square, and stitch
another round; repeat on each
square for this set. Change to the
second color, start at the first
square for that set, and stitch
another round. Repeat this
sequence until the pattern builds to
the desired effect — usually about
5 to 7 rounds. The squares will
interweave between colors, and the
equator design will create smaller
interwoven diamonds within the
same color.

Step 8 — Embellish.

• Use the metallic thread and stitch 1 finishing row around each square, staying in the
alternating pattern to keep the interwoven effect intact. Use metallic thread to make
crossline embellishments in the center of each square and at the Poles. Remove pins.
With the eye of the needle, gently adjust any threads that need "nudging" into place. Enjoy
your temari, a piece of Japanese folk art.

This project first appeared in CRAFT Volume 03 . pages 50-52.

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Temari Wrap

This document was last generated on 201 2-1 1 -03 1 2:48:1 6 AM.

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